OBJECTIVETo compare the safety and feasibility of laparoscopic surgery and open surgery in ulcerative colitis.

METHODSA search of published studies in English and Chinese between January 1992 and May 2008 was performed. Nine hundred and twenty-three patients from 16 studies were recruited which met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed through fixed effect model or random effect model dependent on heterogeneity.

RESULTSCompared to open procedure, patients with ulcerative colitis undergone laparoscopic surgery were able to tolerate oral intake significantly earlier (P<0.01) with shorter hospital stay (P<0.01) and had lower total complication rate (P<0.01). But duration of laparoscopic surgery was significantly longer than that of open procedure(P=0.04). Laparoscopic procedure was no more superior to open procedure in recovery of bowel function, re-operation rate, intra-abdominal abscess, anastomotic leak, postoperative bowel obstruction, wound infection, blood loss and mortality. The conversion rate was 4.2% in this analysis.

CONCLUSIONLaparoscopic surgery for ulcerative colitis is safe and feasible with better recovery in short-term as compared to the open procedure.